Please do not move on a proposed 500,000 acre National Monument in Dona Ana County New Mexico

We, the undersigned, are opposed to the proposed 500,000 acre National Monument, because it would negatively impact: (a) border security and other law enforcement missions, (b) the maintenance of existing flood control dams and the construction of new dams, (c) 41 ranches, including some which have been in the same family for over 100 years, and (d) economic development.

We join the following organizations in opposing the proposed National Monument: Greater Las Chamber of Commerce, Las Cruces Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Dona Ana County Sheriff, Dona Ana County Farm Bureau, Dona Ana Soil and Water Conservation District, Village of Hatch, Elephant Butte Irrigation District, Western Heritage Alliance, Mesilla Valley Sportsmans Alliance, National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, Southwestern Border Sheriffs Coalition, Southwestern Couty Commission Alliance, Council of Border Conservation Districts and many other local and state organizations too numerous to list here.

We urge you not to exercise your authority under the Antiquities Act to designate 22 percent of Dona Ana County as National Monument based on a stage hearing and instead take adequate time to engage the local public for accurate and complete information that can lead us to a land use designation that benefits all the citizens of Dona Ana County.